License Management for FortiWLC Virtual Controllers

This section assumes you have already received your entitlement for the FortiWLC Virtual Controller you ordered. Along with the entitlement that allows you to obtain the license for your instance, you would also have received instructions on where to download the right version of the software for the model you ordered. Register your product at the Fortinet Customer Support portaland use the registration key and system ID to obtain a license file.

Note: Obtain the license only after completing the installation of the Virtual Controller. Contact the Forticare Support with the details entailed in the following sections to obtain the license. This section includes the following topics:

• FWC-VM Series Virtual Controllers
• Importing and Installing a License
• License Validation
• License Monitoring

FWC-VM Series Virtual Controllers

After completing installation of the Virtual Controller, login to the controller and run the setup command to generate the system-id. Perform the following steps to obtain the license.

1. Run the setup command on the Controller to generate the system-id, configure the hostname, and configure the static IP address of the Controller, to ensure that the IP address does not change as the system-id/license is mapped to the IP address of the Controller.
2. Save the configuration. The Controller restarts.
3. Run the show system-id command to obtain the system-id.
4. Share the Virtual Controller model details and system-id with the Forticare Support team.
5. Configure the Virtual Controller instance with the required resources (Supported Hardware Configuration) as per the model for which the license has been generated.
6. Install the license from the GUI (See section Importing and Installing a License) OR from the CLI (Configuration Terminal mode => vm-license scp://username@<Your file server IP Address>:<license filename>)
7. Reboot the Controller to apply the changes as per the generated license.

Note: A freshly installed system boots up as FWC-VM-50 with default license valid for 30 days.

• System-id is not get generated until you run the setup command on a fresh instance.
• System-id is coupled with the IP address. Hence, any change in the IP address generates a new system-id thereby failing validation of the older license. In this case, a new license is required. Changing the IP address via CLI followed by a reboot to activate the new IP address does not generate a new system-id. Hence, license validation fails and the Controller is once again the FWC-VM-50 model. Therefore, use only the setup command to change the Controller IP address.
• After the license is invalidated due to a change in the system-id and the controller is once again a FWC-VM-50 model, ensure that you delete (License Monitoring) the invalid license for the Controller to function properly. Else, the Controller reboots after every one hour.

Importing and Installing a License

Perform these steps to obtain the license using the GUI.

1. Navigate to Maintenance > System > VM Licensing
   This image displays a freshly installed system which has a default license (trial based) valid for 30 days from the license issued date.
2. In the VM Licensing wizard, click Import to add a license. By default, this page lists the license available on the system which includes details on the Virtual Controller model.
   
   Browse to the license file and click Save.
   
   The license can be imported through the CLI as well.
   
   

Notes:

• The Controller reboots when you have uploaded the license file.
• The Controller does not support importing license files with spaces or brackets [()] in the filename.

License Validation

After the license is imported, validation is performed on the license parameters. If that validation succeeds and the appropriate hardware resources for the requested controller model are allocated, then the license is installed successfully. If either license validation or hardware resource validation fails, the system reverts to the default license. See section Supported Hardware Configuration for further details.

Once the license is installed successfully, it replaces the default license. There are two types of licenses – Trial Based and Perpetual (Never ending).

License Monitoring

The license validation happens after every one hour at regular intervals. With 30 days to go for expiry, alarms are raised on the controller. The Software License Expired alarm is generated as per the configured severity. The default severity is critical.
In a fresh installation running on a default license (FWC-VM-50) which is valid for 30 days, you get 30 additional days within which to purchase and apply for a valid license. If a valid license is not imported, at the end of additional 30 days, the Controller will reboot and the APs will go to offline state.

To delete a perpetual license, select the license and click Remove License or run the delete vm-license CLI command. After the license is deleted, the Controller reboots and comes up as FWC-VM-50 with the default trial based license.

Note: Deletion of trial based license is not allowed.